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Blanca Muñoz

ARTIST

“My idea for the artwork to be presented to the winners of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards was to synthesize the eight categories addressed by the awards and, at the same time, to convey the ambition of all scientific disciplines advancing together towards new terrains of knowledge”, says sculptor Blanca Muñoz.

BIO

Blanca Muñoz has a B.A. in Fine Arts, Complutense University of Madrid. Scholarships at Calcografia Nazionale, 1989, awarded by the Italian Government, at the Spanish Academy in Rome, 1990, and in Mexico City, 1992, awarded by the Mexican Department of Foreign Affairs.

Distinctions include the National Etching Prize, 1999; Bancaixa Prize for Sculpture, 2000; Riofisa Sculpture Biennial, 2001 and the Lucio Muñoz Etching Prize, 2002.

Public sculptures

Leónidas, Príncipe Pío Station, Madrid, 2004; Perseidas II, Parque de la Curva de Elorrieta, Bilbao 2004; Eclíptica, Badajoz Exhibition Center, 2006; Panta rei, Malaga, 2008; Géminis. Norman Foster tower, Madrid, 2009.

Exhibitions (selection)

Año 1000-Año 2000. Dos milenios en la historia de España, Madrid-Brussels, 2000; Köln Skulptur, Baukunst Galerie, Art Cologne 2001; 24th Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts (Slovenia), 2001; Graphic Works 1991-2003, Estampa, 2003; El universo transparente, Espacio Uno, MNCARS, Madrid, 2004, Las tres dimensiones del Quijote, MNCARS, Madrid, 2005; Speed I, IVAM, Valencia, 2007. Her work has also been shown at the Spanish National Library and the Prado Museum, Madrid.

About her Frontiers of Knowledge artwork

“My idea for the artwork to be presented to the winners of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards was to synthesize the eight categories addressed by the awards and, at the same time, to convey the ambition of all scientific disciplines advancing together towards new terrains of knowledge.

I chose the spiral for its symbolism in numerous cultures as an image of life, and because it is the optimal solution for growth in a limited space and also the best way to represent continuity.

The spiral expands endlessly outward from its point of origin. With this in mind, I traced out three spirals, each of them segmented into seven points, plus an eighth point which marks their common origin. This, I think, brings the seven scientific disciplines harmoniously into play, to the rhythm of the eighth, most abstract discipline, which is certainly the arts”.